June 28, 2016

The Remedy by Serena Chase
I don't know how Ms. Chase does it, but this series is simply amazing! I fell in love with this world she's created in The Ryn and have no idea why it took me so long to return to it. The adventure, the allegorical elements, the romance, the characters (and the way I closed the final chapter all excited for Erielle and Cazien's story!), the fun, it's wonderful and I loved every bit of it.

The Seahorse Legacy by Serena Chase
I just knew I was going to enjoy spending more time with Erielle and Cazien and I was right! These two....*sigh* I don't have words to describe how much I love them both. Their adventures are truly of epic proportions and I ended this one SO glad I waited to read it until book four was out!

The Sunken Realm by Serena Chase
Oh my gracious! This book, y'all. And these characters! I've said before, I love Ms. Chase's world building, add to that these awesome characters, and you are looking at a very happy reader right here. :) The EPICNESS of this series continues to amaze me. And the romance? *happy sigh* Erielle and Cazien go through so, so much and all I can say is that you really need to read their story. Trust me!!

The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade
The fun of this series is the characters. Alona and Will are SO very different, yet somehow they work so well together. Watching them irritate each other is cute because for all their denial, they really do like each other. Simply put, it's a fun story that made me smile! :)

Queen of the Dead by Stacey Kade
The stakes in this one are higher, which kept me turning pages. What happened at the end was definitely unexpected! In a good way. But really, I was here for Alona and Will and they did not disappoint me. Their banter is just fun! I love those two.

Body and Soul by Stacey Kade
The end of Queen of the Dead left me wondering where on earth the story would go from there. Unexpected but fun places it turns out! A few more twists and turns happen in this final book, which ups the tension. Yet Alona and Will are as hilarious and adorable as ever! Those two and their arguments. They're perfect together! They just need to work on their communication skills a little more. And they make this series entertaining and well worth reading. :)

June 27, 2016

I've realized that it is now almost July and I have SO many books yet to be reviewed! I thought I'd manage to get caught up by now, but alas... So! I decided the easiest way was just to do several mini reviews. Especially as it's been a while since I've read some of these and I'm not certain I have enough words to capture the stories properly. I do remember enjoying them all though! Does that count for anything? :)

Onward to the fun stuff!

Their Fractured Lightby Amie Kaufmann & Meagan Spooner
I loved it! This was an epic ending to the overarching storyline and definitely went in ways I wasn't expecting. Gideon and Sofia are completely perfect for each other and their journey to figuring that out is quite the adventure! I absolutely LOVE this entire series and highly recommend them!

Only Through Love by Mary Jane Hathaway
After loving The Pepper in the Gumbo, I couldn't wait to read more about Charlie. She is such a wonderful character! Watching as she makes mistakes, yet learns from them and grows stronger made me root for her. And I really, really wanted to give her a great big hug so many times while reading this!

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
I'd never read this classic until now, which seems crazy! But I definitely enjoyed it. The March family is the type that makes you wish you could jump into the story and be swept up in all their adventures and fun. I loved the sisters imaginations! And the way that everybody they came in contact with for any length of time immediately became part of the family. I especially loved how they took Laurie in. As I read part one (which was my favorite half of the story), I kept thinking this book would make the perfect read-aloud. Part two disappointed me several times and I ended the book wishing I'd stopped with part one. But overall I am really glad I read it! Just thinking back on all the fun they had as children makes me smile. I can easily see why it's considered a classic!

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
I listened to the audio of this and surprisingly really liked it! Tim Curry is an excellent narrator, by the way. :) This little story is very different. I wasn't really sure what to expect from it, but I ended it somewhat satisfied (because as Lemony Snicket himself points out, it is a Bad Beginning :) and most certainly intrigued! Enough that I hope to read the rest of the series someday. It was very fun to watch as the children use their limited skills (since they are children) to figure out a way to (kind of) defeat the villain!

Heir to Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson
This little book reminded me how very much I love Ms. Donaldson's writing! And I was absolutely thrilled to get Philip's perspective upon meeting Marianne. The only problem I have with it? It's entirely too short! But that's a good problem, yes? :) I ended it positively itching to pick up Edenbrooke again. Excellent!

When Mary Met the Colonel by Victoria Kincaid
Simply a cute little re-imagining of Mary Bennet's story (from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen). Short but sweet! And it made me smile, which is all I can ask.

Bookishly Ever After by Isabel Bandera
This was cute! Phoebe is an avid reader, so much so that it overtakes her real life. To the point that she kind of can be a bad friend? Her friends do tend to forgive a lot sometimes, but she's so sweet that it's understandable. There's nothing earth-shattering about this story, it's a pretty easy setup and delivery. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't read it! Because Phoebe and Dev are pretty adorable together. My favorite bit was their friendship. I love a good friendship-turned-more story! When you're in need of a fluffy bit of entertainment, this one would suit perfectly. :)

June 22, 2016

Hello my lovelies! I hope you're all doing well. I'm.....okay. Sorta. In amongst the sad moments, there's been lots of happy moments. Truly! And I'm clinging to them right now. I think I'm still a bit in shock that mom's not here anymore, so my capacity for dreaming up happy blog posts about books and stories seems to be struggling a bit currently. But I'll get there, I just know it.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

I didn't want to leave this little spot blank for days and weeks, plus I know I am SO far behind on my blog reading/commenting. *sigh* I was already behind and this has not been helping my cause! Anyhoo, I decided to focus on the happy right now. Like I said, there has certainly been lots of happy in my life! And that means y'all get to smile along with me. (I hope.)

Onward!

Back at the end of April, I finally got around to shelving my books by color. And I love it! It makes me grin every single time I look over in that corner. :)

These are some of mom's pretty flowers. She always loved working out in her flower beds and I can remember dreadful hours spent in multiple plant nurseries when I was a kid. (If you can't tell, I was not a happy camper when mom said that's where we were headed. I always got so bored!)

This beautiful bouquet was delivered to me at work one day and it brightened me considerably! How can anyone stay down when glorious sunflowers are staring them in the face? Not possible! :)

Still haven't done a whole lot of reading, I just can't seem to find a book that will hold my attention. But this one did! I loved it! Hopefully I'll get to rhapsodizing on it soon, but until then I recommend you read it. Like now! :)

I met this gentle lady last weekend and was contemplating bringing her home with me. She was so sweet! Alas, I couldn't seem to commit quick enough and another family got her instead. I'm sure she's very happy there, but it'd definitely have been fun to have her around.

This picture is for the table. I found it last weekend as well and immediately loved it! It was such a great deal I had to bring it home. My nieces and nephews just shake their heads at all my yellow things, but they make me happy so... Also, I hope y'all will appreciate my Aslan sign! All my real life friends come in and ask "What's Aslan?" (Only the awesomest lion ever!!! This experience has made me doubly determined to introduce more people to him!)

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"But Hadley understood. It wasn't that she was meant to read them all. Maybe someday she would, but for now, it was more the gesture itself. He was giving her the most important thing he could, the only way he knew how. He was a professor, a lover of stories, and he was building her a library in the same way other men might build their daughters houses."— Jennifer E. Smith